It's only been forty years since R. Gordon Wasson rediscovered the traditional use of hallucinogenic fungi in Mesoamerica, but in that time more than 160 species of psilocybian mushrooms have been identified worldwide (Allen, Gartz & Guzm·n, 1998 [1992]). In 1957, only seven species were recognized within the scientific community, and outside of Mesoamerica their existence was known to only a small handful of scientists who investigated their restricted use among several groups of indigenous peoples native to Southern Mexico; primarily within the Mexican state of Oaxaca.

To this day, researchers have identified the existence of hallucinogenic psilocybian mushrooms as far north as Alaska and Siberia in the Northern Hemisphere, and as far south as Chile and Australia in the austral floral zone. Psilocybian mushrooms grow from California in the western United States to China and Japan in the east. Since the ecological and geographical distribution of the more than 160 species of hallucinogenic mushrooms is so vast and diverse, we have decided to present a georaphical table of their distribution.

The following article presents a detailed listing of the various species of mushrooms which can be found from state to state in both the United States and Canada. A country by country listing of global distribution is also in the works, and will be available soon. References and more information are given at the end of the article.

Other books by John W. Allen:
Magic Mushrooms of the Pacific Northwest
Maria Sabina: Saint Mother of the Mushrooms
Wasson's First Voyage: The Rediscovery of Entheogenic Mushrooms
Some Recent Notes and Observations on the Occurrence and Use of Entheogenic Fungi in Third World Countries